Separating and classifying apparatus



L, H. FALLEY.

SEPARATING AND CLASSIFYING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 1, I919- 7 2 SHEETS-SHEET I. 3 .e 1

Patented July 11, 1922.

LEWIS H. FALLEY, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

SEPARATING AND CLASSIFYING-APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented J l 11 1922 Application fil edNovember 1, 1919. Serial No. 335,197.

To all to ham it may concern Be it known that I, Lnwrs H. FALLnY, acitizen of the United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county ofJackson, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and usefulImprovement in Separating and Classifying Apparatus, of which thefollowing is a complete specification- The present invention pertains toseparating apparatus designed for use in cleaning, separating andclassifying or sizing various grades of granular substances ormaterials, having for one of its objects the provision of an improvedtype of apparatus whereby either materials heavier than water, orlighter materials under certain circumstances, may be appropriatelyseparated and classified, in which process a suitable fluid workingmedium is employed in the operation of the apparatus. Accordingly 1'provide a tank subdivided into suitably arranged settling compartments,together with means for maintaining afluid medium therein and soregulating and modifying the flow through such compartments as to effecta plurality of separations of the material according to the desiredclassifications.

One of the features of the invention is a novel form and arrangement ofdeflecting elements within one of the bafile compartments of the tankfor both agitating and deflecting the flow therethrough, as well ascentralizing thesettling movement of the material therein.

It is also sought to devise as compact a structure as possible of thecharacter described, having a maximum separating capacity.

With these general objects in view, the invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawing illustrating one form ofconstruction for embodying the improvement, after which the novelfeatures therein will be set forth in the appended claims. a

In the drawing 1 Figure 1 is a central vertical sectional view of anapparatus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a similar section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the tank, with the coverportion omitted;

And Figures 4 and 5 are plan and edge views respectively on an enlargedscale of H one of the deflecting elements.

Referring to the drawings in detail, these illustrate the improvedapparatus as comprising a tank 6, into which the material to be treatedis discharged from a trough or chute 7, said material being receivedinto a recelving compartment 8, the bottom of which is formed by apartition .9, sloping downward from near the top of the tank, adacent tothe chute 7 to what may be termed the rear side of the tank as shown inFigure 1. Intersecting the partition 9 is a vertical partition 10,extending entirely across the tank, to the front side of which partition10 is atttached a vertical channel partition 12 also intersecting thepartition 9, thereby forming an intermediate settling compartment 13,which is provided with a receiving passage 14, communicating with thebase of the receiving compartment 8. At opposite sides of the partition12 the intersected portions of partition 9 are bent into horizontalposition as illustrated in Figures 1 and 3.

A second downward sloping partition 15, is provided, extending parallelto the partition 9, and also intersecting the partition 12 and the loweredge of the partition 10, and connected with the rear side of the tankby a short reversely inclined partition 16; there is thus formed a fluidsupply compartment 17 below this receiving compartment 8, to whichcompartment 17 is connected a pipe 18, fitted with a valve 19, forconnection with any suitable source of fluid supply, such as water, formaintaining a fluid working or settling medium within the tank. Apassage 20 in the partition 12 affords communication between thecompartments 13 and 17, in the vicinity of the lower end of thecompartment 13.

The partition 12 extends short of the upper end of the tank where thecompartment 7 ranged V shaped partitions 25 in such a manner as toprovide a restricted passage 26, between the upper and lower portions ofsaid compartment 22, having the approach to said passage graduallyconverging in the upper porti n f such compartment and graduallydiverging in the lower portion of such compartment below said passage asclearly shown in Figure 2. An outlet pipe 27, is connected with theupper portion of said compartment 22, and a second outletthiscompartment.

The arrangement of the partitions 9, 10, 15 and 16 isfsuch as to providea collecting compartment 30, below the compartment 22, and an opening 31at the bottom of partition 10, affords a discharge passage from theintermediate compartment 13 into said collecting compartment, from whichthe sep arated material discharges through a passage 32 in the partition15, into a discharge compartment 33 at the bottom of the tank. Thiscompartment 33 is provided with a discharge conduit, 34, having a valve35. The bottom of the tank is also provided with a suitable drain pipe36, fitted with a valve 37. To the front ofthe channel shaped partition12 is located a vertical partition 38, depend ing some distance into thereceiving compartment 8, from a cover 39, which extends across the topof the tank from said partition 38 to the rear side of the tank. hen aliquid settling medium, such as water, is employed, the water level ismaintained at a height above the lower edge of said partition 38', asindicated by the broken line 40, within the compartments 8 and 13, Figure 1, the said medium dropping to a lower level in the compartment22, as indicated by the broken line 41, opposite the upper dischargepipe 27. 1

In the preferred mode of operation of the apparatus a suitable liquidworking medium, such as water, is maintained in the tank by means of thesupply connections 18 and 23, at approximately the levels of the lines4;0 and 11 respectively. By this means an upward flow of said workingmedium is established in its course through the comp llatively narrowsettling compartment 13.

Thematerial to be treated is fed into the rece v ng compartment 8, fromwhich it passes, through the opening 14, into said settling'compartment13. For the purpose /in this. compartment and enhancing the ofthoroughly breaking up the material 1 separating action therein, 1.provide 'a series of vertically spaced deflecting elements in the formof curved and twisted fingers A2,

' attached, at one endto the, channel partition l2, and extendingrearward across 7 th compartment 13. The finger 2 ar of semi-circularform ('see Figure 5), and are pipe 28.

so located as to assume a downwardly curved position within thecompartment 13, with their twisted free portions adjacent the rear wallof the compartment. This struc- 1 ture serves to interrupt the upwardflow of the workingmedium, producing crosscurrents. and twistingmovements of said medium, and thereby effectively agitating the materialbeing treated, both the coarser particles which are descending in thecompartment against the action of the current, as well as the finerparticles of material which are being carried up with the cur- I rent.The downwardly curved shape or contour of the fingers 42 is furthermoresuch as to deflect the descending particles of material toward thecenter of the compartment, thus tending to centralize the downwardtravel of the material as it settles, so that the abrading action whichwould otherwise be exerted on the interior walls of said compartment,especially the partition 12, is thereby eliminated. The coarserparticles of the material settle into the lower end. of the compartment13, below the water inlet opening 20, and then pass through the opening31, into the collecting compartment 30, from which they are dischargedinto the compartment 33, and with drawn by way of the discharge conduit34.

By regulating the water flow, the separation may be effected at anydesired size, a strong water flow carrying off a much larger portion ofthe coarse material, whereas a weaker flow, producing a more slowlymoving upward current, will separate only the line particles from thecoarser.

The transverse partition 38, provides a bypath for they overflow ofwater and finer particles of the material into the top of thecompartment 13.

The product overflowing "into the compartment 2 2, is preferablysubjected to the H action of an auxiliary supplyrof the liquidmediumadmitted through the connection 23, for effecting a completeseparation of the material passing into this compartment, and seeking anoutlet and flowing upward, carries off the very finest particles of thematerial through the discharge outlet 27, while the remaining heavierparticles descend by gravity to the bottomof the compartment 22, and aredrawn off through the By regulating the valve 29 in this pipeconnection, it ispossibleto retard the movement of the material in thislatter compartment, causing said material to pile up and thereby tendingto raise the water level in the receiving compartment 8. This inturnwill resultv in greater pressure being exerted at the variousdischarge passages, from which it will be seen that the separatingaction may be retarded V or accelerated by regulation of said valve 29,and that'the discharge of the finest palticles at the outlet 27 may beregulated wholly by manipulation of said valve.

It is thus apparent that I have provided a simple and eflicientapparatus for carrying out the desired objects of the invention, andthat a plurality of separations may be effected by the improved tankstructure which is of a very compact form and arrangement. lhe improvedconstruction and arrangement of the partitions and restricted passages,particularly those of the downflow compartment 22, enables aconsiderably smaller volume of water to be used in carrying out theoperation. It is also apparent that the apparatus is adapted for use insimilar fashion in the treatment of granular materials which are lighterthan water, it being necessary merely to maintain the intake end of thetank reasonably air-tight, as by means of a canvas hood, or the like(not shown).

While I have illustrated and described what I now regard as thepreferred form of construction for carrying out the desired objects ofthe invention, I desire to reserve the right to make such formal changesor modifications as may fairly fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

\Vhat I claim is:

1. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank,a partition dividing the tank into a settling compartment and areceiving compartment communicating with said settling compartmentintermediate the ends of the latter; fluid supply means communicatingwith said settling compartment and maintaining an upward flow therein,and a plurality of deflecting elements located in vertically spacedrelation in said settling compartment, said elements extending in adownwardly curved direction, transversely across said settlingcompartment, and adapted to produce cross-currents therein, while alsotending to centralize the downward movement of the material settlingwithin said settling compartment.

2. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank,a partition dividing the tank into a settling compartment and areceiving compartment, communicating with said settling compartmentintermediate the end of the latter; fluid supply means communicatingwith said settling compartment and maintaining an upward flow therein,and a plurality of deflecting elements located in vertically spacedrelation in said settling compartment, said elements extending in adownwardly curved direction transversely across said settlingcompartment and provided with twisted free end portions, whereby saidelements are adapted to produce a combined cross current and twistingmovement of the upward flow through said settling compartment, whilealso tending to centralize the downward movement of the materialsettling within said settling compartment.

3. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tank,a partition structure dividing the tank into an up-flow com partment anda down-flow compartment communicating with said up-flow compartment nearthe upper end of the latter; fluid supply means connected with the tankand operating to maintain an upward flow through said up-flowcompartment, and a settling medium in said down-flow compartment outletconnections communicating with said down-flow compartment at diflerentelevations, and means for regulating the discharge from the lower or"said connections.

4. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tankcontaining downflow settling compartment, a partition structurecomprising spaced V-shaped members arranged to provide a restrictedpassage between the upper and lower compartments of said tank with theapproach to said passage gradually converging and thereafter divergingbelow said passage; means for maintaining a fluid settling medium withinsaid compartments; a discharge connection communieating with the tank ata point above said restricted passage, and a second discharge connectioncommunicating with the tank at the bottom of said settling compartmentand forming the sole outlet from said lower compart-ment.

5. An apparatus of the character described, comprising a settling tankcontaining downflow settling compartment; a partition structurecomprising spaced V-shaped members to provide a restricted passagebetween the upper and lower compartments of said tank, with the approachto said passage gradually converging, and thereafter diverging belowsaid passage; discharge connections communicating with said compartmentsat points respectively above and below said restricted passage, andmeans for supplying a fluid medium to said compartment at a point belowsaid restricted passage, the discharge connection to the lower of saidcompartments being provided with a regulating valve and forming the soleoutlet from said lower compartment.

In witness whereof, I affix my signature.

LEWIS H.- FALLEY.

